Are Everton about to suffer disappointment in Martin O’Neill pursuit?

According to The Irish Independent, the FAI are confident that Martin O'Neill will not step down from his role as the Republic of Ireland national football team and take the managerial role at Everton.

The Mirror recently claimed that O’Neill is on the radar of Everton, who are on the hunt for a new permanent manager as a successor to Ronald Koeman.

The 65-year-old is in charge of the Republic of Ireland at the moment, having been placed in the role back in 2013.

“O'Neill had discussions with FAI officials last Friday and the Abbotstown authorities clearly believe that the verbal agreement that was reached in early October is binding," states the report in The Irish Independent.

The Irish Independent has also quoted the FAI's honorary treasurer Eddie Murray as saying that he expects O’Neill to remain in charge of the Republic of Ireland for the Euro 2020 campaign.

"The contract is agreed and it is just a question of signing it,” The Irish Independent quotes Murray as saying. “As of now, there is no reason to believe that he won’t. As far as I am concerned we have an agreement with him and we expect him to sign.”

It seems that O’Neill, who has managed Celtic, Aston Villa and Sunderland among other clubs in his managerial career so far, is set to commit his future to the Republic of Ireland team, and this means that Everton will have to look at other candidates.

Subhankar Mondal

A football journalist based in Wakefield, Subhankar Mondal has previously worked for Goal.com International and Skysports.com, and has had his sports articles published in The Guardian and The Observer. He has also been on the BBC in the past and his name once found its way to the pages of the World Soccer magazine. He was recently cited in a major Louis van Gaal biography.